Cleanup

Sure enough, as soon as Soren finished speaking, strange noises came from nearby. They did not even have time to collect the spoils before mounting their horses and fleeing in the other direction. Less than two minutes later, a large bulge rose from the grass beside the road, and a Bulette burrowed out of the ground. That was not all. Another quickly emerged, followed by a third Bulette appearing nearby.

A small pack of four Bulettes.

After glancing back, everyone immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

If Soren had not warned them to leave at once, one or two of them would probably already be dead!

One Bulette was difficult enough to deal with. Now three had appeared at once. Even with the Guard captain's strength as a Tier 3 Northerner Barbarian, there was little chance of survival. A single round of acid spray from those three Bulettes could wipe out half of them, while the survivors probably would not even last one round.

That was why a Bulette's Challenge Rating was higher than even that of an Abyss Marilith!

The Bulettes discovered their dead companion. These monsters possessed a degree of beastly instinct, and they let out shrill roars in the direction Soren and the others had fled before immediately burrowing underground to pursue them. However, they were clearly slower than horses. They soon surfaced some distance away and continued watching the direction in which the group had left. Even wolves understood revenge, much less Bulettes, supernatural creatures like these.

"Thanks to you this time."

The Guard captain patted Soren on the shoulder, then held his badly injured companion steady and urged his horse toward the caravan.

Soren's injuries were lighter. He had only suffered corrosion from acidic blood.

The caravan guard who had faced the acid spray head-on was in much worse condition. Although his shield had blocked much of it, plenty of splashing acid had still landed on him. The skin on many parts of his body had been burned and rotted away. That was the terror of a Bulette's acid spray. It carried not only the corrosive burning of strong acid, but also considerable venom due to the Bulette's biological traits. Fortunately, these were only Bulettes. If they had encountered a Challenge Rating 15 Wyvern, its acid could melt even Full Plate Armor!

That was the truly deadly thing.

Among creatures below Legendary rank, a Wyvern's spray attack ranked among the very best in both corrosiveness and toxicity!

The caravan soon came into view.

The guards reacted quickly. Someone immediately came to receive them, while nearly a third drew their weapons and automatically formed a protective perimeter around the others. The merchants directed their hands with shouts and calls, having them gather the wagons together into a simple wagon fort. This was a method commonly used by experienced merchants to defend against bandit attacks.

"Take me to the master."

After catching his breath, the Guard captain carried his companion down from the horse. In just that short time, the caravan guard's face had turned deathly pale—not only because of the acid's corrosive effects, but also because of the trace venom that had seeped into his body and the serious blood loss. It was not only enemies that took lives during wilderness adventures, but also injuries that continued to worsen, even though their bodies were far tougher than those of people on Earth long ago.

The caravan guards quickly gathered together.

Crossbowmen stood atop the wagons, while Warriors in Studded Leather Armor raised their shields. For a moment, they even carried the bearing of an army.

Northerner Merchants.

They were the strongest fighters among merchants, because many of the guards they hired were retired Warriors.

Many Players who had once turned to banditry had called them hard bones to chew!

The curtain of the large carriage protected at the center of the caravan was lifted, and a graceful woman wearing a veil appeared. She looked at the injured guard and said in a grave voice, "Clean his wounds immediately, then bring him into the carriage."...

After saying that.

She shifted her gaze toward Soren and said solemnly, "You too."

"I have a special ointment here. Let them apply it to your wounds."

The others took the Warrior away to clean his wounds, while the Guard captain reported what had happened ahead. Everything remained orderly, without the slightest hint of panic.

And at the center of that Order was this mysterious woman!

Descendant of the Northern Witches.

Under her commands, everyone carried out their tasks strictly. The initially flustered merchants also calmed down and had some prepared Healing Potions brought out. Northern Witches were mysterious and powerful beings. In some ways, they were even more dangerous than southern Wizards, because they not only commanded mysterious Spells but also inherited some of the innate abilities of Witch Doctors.

This had once been one of the most difficult special classes to advance into!

The seriously injured man was quickly carried over. The Guard captain personally applied medicine to him, then poured a Healing Potion down his throat.

Soren's injuries were not serious, but Vivian still treated them as if they were dire. She applied ointment all over him and carefully bandaged his thigh, completely unconcerned about wasting the rather precious salve.

She even personally fed Soren another Healing Potion!

The little girl rarely cried after growing up.

Whenever she saw Soren injured, she usually treated his wounds in silence. She would never cry and fuss like other little girls. The understanding they had developed while depending on each other in childhood had long made her the person who could set fires for Soren whenever he needed to kill someone.

Even though she was kind by nature!

"Bulettes?"

The mysterious woman frowned slightly. After glancing at Soren beside her, she asked the Guard captain, "What should we do now?"

"Continue onward?"

A troubled expression appeared on the Guard captain's face. He then said, "I do not know much about this creature's habits either."

"Perhaps he knows more!"

Everyone present turned their eyes toward Soren. He had been trying to cheer up the slightly red-eyed little girl with clumsy jokes. Only after she tugged at his sleeve did he realize everyone was looking at him, and he hurriedly said, "Bulettes are very stubborn creatures and rarely leave their territory!"

"There must be a reason they have appeared here."

"However."

"Since they have come here, they will not leave anytime soon."

"So there are only two options."

"One is to kill them. Otherwise, they will definitely attack when the caravan passes through."

"The other is to detour around them by taking another route."

"These creatures will not track us."

A detour.

The mysterious woman frowned and immediately ordered, "Norrod!"

"Take people and kill them."

Her tone allowed no question. Norrod, the Guard captain, did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately replied in a deep voice, "As you command."

"Master."

"I will take men to deal with these troubles at once."

With that, he began preparing personnel, having some shields brought out. Half the men remained behind to protect the caravan, while the other half went with him to deal with the Bulettes. Most people in this caravan addressed the mysterious woman as Master, which meant her status was very noble. Even if the others were not her Slaves, they were servants dependent on her.

Soren could not help feeling a trace of curiosity about this mysterious woman's identity!

Northern Witches.

For these women to possess territory of their own in the realm of the Goddess of Ice and Snow, they were certainly no simple figures!

Not to mention that they were a group of dangerous Wizards.

After thinking it over, Soren still rose and said, "I will go too."

"I have some experience dealing with these things."

"I imagine."

"It will be much easier to kill them."

After saying that, he reassured Vivian that he would be fine, then mounted his horse and followed them.

Since he was merely accompanying them, the caravan's mistress had not demanded that Soren act with them. It was a basic form of respect. However, when the Guard captain gathered men, he still glanced at Soren, clearly hoping that he would come along.

The mysterious woman nodded slightly.

The Guard captain rode over to Soren and said in a deep voice, "Do not attack later."

"Just tell us these bugs' weaknesses."

Soren touched his Scimitar and moved his body slightly, gauging how much his injuries affected him. Then he said, "I understand."

"Have them prepare more shields."

"These bugs can unleash a lethal acid spray. Ordinary Leather Armor is practically useless."

"I will find a way to lure them out later."

After killing that Bulette with a single slash earlier, Soren had gained over nine hundred points of Slaughter Experience. After reaching Tier 2, he needed 3,000 experience to advance to a Level 6 Rogue. He could no longer rely solely on Lockpicking and Disarm Trap to gain experience. He had to personally wield a blade and kill monsters.

With so many people acting together this time, it was a relatively safe and reliable way to earn experience!

It would be best if he could gain another 900 points of Slaughter Experience.

After all, he would not have many chances to encounter monsters like these in the future, nor did he have much confidence in killing one alone.

Under normal adventuring circumstances.

Even if he cleared out a small Kobold tribe by himself, along with an awakened Kobold Sorcerer, he would only gain around 800 points of Slaughter Experience.

He would not let an opportunity to improve his strength pass him by!

, after only a few rounds, stamina often began to decline sharply.)